Zinc-seeded electrodeposition of lithium metal anode for high-capacity Li/Li-ion battery

Abstract

Due to the extra-high capacity (3860 mAhg-1 ) and the lowest electrochemcial equilibrium potential (-3.040 VSHE), lithium metal has been considered as a promising candidate for high-energy lithium ion battery anode [1]. However, the undesired dendrite growth results in detrimental effects in the cell performance, such as cell short-circuit, low coulombic efficiency, and dead lithium, which have hampered widespread exploits of lithium metal-based batteries. Therefore, in recent years numerous strategies to prevent or mitigate the problematic dendrite growth have been reported, and one of the effective methods is to provide heterogeneous lithiophilic nucleation sites on the surface of current collectors [2]. In this study, we report zinc metal seed layers as lithiophilic nucleation sites, and their effects on the morphologies of electrodeposited lithium metal films. The zinc seeds with various thicknesses (1, 3 and 5 nm)were deposited on the copper foils (thickness ＆asymp; 130 ＆micro;m) using an electron-beam evaporation system. To electrodeposit lithium on the Zn-seeded suface, and investigate the electrochemical properties of deposited Li metal electrodes, CR 2032-type coin cells were assembled (CE:Li strip, WE: a seededsubstrate, and Celgard separator). Reference (1) Cheng, X.-B; Zhang, R.; Zhao, C. -Z.; Zhang, Q. Toward Safe Lithium Metal Anode in Rechargeable Batteries: A Review. Chem. Rev. 2017, 117, 10403＆ndash;10473. (2) Yan, K.; Lu, Z.; Lee, H. -W; Xiong, F.; Hsu, P. -C.; Li, Y.; Zhao, J.; Chu, S.; Cui, Y. Selective deposition and stable encapsulation of lithium through heterogeneous seeded growth. Nat. Energy 2016, 1, 16010.